The First Virgin Snow

Last week it snowed but the students from Southside middle school in Siloam Springs still drove two over hours out to the Ozark Natural Science Center. The students I worked with were excited to be able to explore the woods covered in a thin sheet of white. As soon as we had them settled for their two day stay, and I had convinced them to wear their pajamas underneath their cloths for extra insulation, we began our first four hour long hike.

We walked along a creek side trail and found tracks along snow covered logs. After studying them carefully we determined they were squirrel tracks. Later on an excited girl ran up to me with a handful of black pellets and asked, “What is this?” I chuckled, “Looks like rat scat!” I expected the girl to freak out about having rat feces in her hand, but instead she just said, “Cool!” I smirked and went on to explain that it was probably from a wood rat, which is a much cleaner rodent than the common house rat. Another boy said, “Awesome, Can I hold it?” And the poop was passed. I make them promise to wash their hands.

Late at night, just before bed, I took the kids on a night hike. The full moon seeped brightly through wispy clouds and illuminated the snow. Everything in the forest seemed to glow and guide our way. The children, mesmerized by the night’s beauty, did not speak a word. Even their footsteps were light. As we walked past a cedar thicket, we heard a stick snap. Everyone froze. We hear something, some animal, moving just beyond a pile of fallen trees. I whispered to the children, asking them if I they wanted me to turn on my light so that maybe we could see the animal as it fled. “No,” a boy pleaded, “We don’t want to scare it away!” The others nodded. I smiled, and we silently walk onward leaving the creature in peace.

Normally I walk only a hundred feet or so into the woods on the night hike, just enough to give the kids a taste. But this night was different and this group was special. We walked perhaps a half mile, all the way to Chinquapin Outlook. There we stood in silence on a rock ledge were we gazed out across the snowy moonlit valley. Still the children stayed silent, in awe of the beauty all around them.

The next day we watch woodpeckers and chickadees in the trees. Along the river and up the hill we identified trees, herbs, and rocks. We discussed meandering steams, underground water, springs, and karst topography. We followed chipmunk and raccoon tracks along a dried up creek bed. The children made up stories about the chase between these two mammals.

Then we began finding frost flowers clustered around the stalks of wild oregano. A frost flower blooms only when the air is freezing but ground has not yet experienced a hard freeze and the plant’s roots are still active. The water molecules expand as ice is formed and ice is pushed out of the roots and stems of certain plants in thin petals. We found our ice beauties swirling around the bases of dried up wild oregano plants. Though the children were excited they did not touch the delicate petals, instead they examined the frost flowers and left them for the next class to enjoy. Ten year olds with the patients, respect, and silence of these students give me hope of the future!

The Great Journey of Cheese!

Last week Beth, the executive director of the Ozark Natural Science Center, wrote an article about our ONSC motto "take what you need, and eat what you take!" The children repeat the motto before every meal at ONSC. Beth tells of how we encourage children to put only what they want to eat on their plate and then eat everything. The idea is to teach them to not waste food. Any waste they have is put into a clear plastic "compost bucket" and is shown to the children before the meal ends. If there is a lot of waste, we make a point to illustrate what is being wasted. Suppose the wasted food is mostly grilled cheese sandwiches, we illustrate the journey of that the cheese made:

"So where did this cheese come from," I ask the cafeteria of children, finishing their food.

"From a cow," a child answers.

"Okay, from cow, but it takes a lot to raise a cow, right, so let’s take another step back. What goes into raising a cow?"

"It has to be fed," a boy says.

"What do cows eat?"

"Grain," a girl answers.

"Okay, so grain has to be grown, right? What goes into growing grain?"

"A forest has to be cut to plant the grain," one child suggests.

"And the ground has to be fertilized," says another. "And watered!"

"Great, so then the grain is grown, but how does it get to the cow?"

"Someone has to harvest it," a child says. "And then it goes onto a truck and is transported to the cow!"

"Awesome, so all of that energy goes into just getting the cow its food. The cow also has to have water and maybe medicines and people to care for it. Eventually that cow grows up, has a baby, and is able to be milked. Then what?"

"The milk has to be made into cheese."

"Do you think the cattle farmer makes the cheese?"

"No...It has to be shipped to a cheese factory!"

"So the milk is moved by trucks to the cheese factory, and what type of energy is used in that truck?"

"Gasoline."

"Right, fossil fuels. And what goes into getting that fossil fuel? Where does gasoline come from?”

“The ground?”

“Exactly, it has to be mined out of the ground, trees are chopped down, the ground to turned up, and people work hard to get the raw fuel out of the ground. Then it is moved to a refinery where it is made into gasoline. Finally it is transported to a gas station and put in the truck. Still with me?”
Heads nod.

“Once the milk gets to the cheese factory it is processed by machinery. What powers that machinery?”

“Electricity.”

“Where do we get electricity?”

“Solar!”

“Wind!”

I laugh, “I wish, most of our electricity some from one source, a much more dirty source.”

“Coal,” someone says.

“Yeah, coal is mined and then it is burned, creating pollution, to power the machinery. The machines are operated by workers and the milk is made into giant blocks of cheese. But we don't buy giant blocks of cheese, do we? So where do those giant blocks of cheese go?"

"To a packaging place?"

"Yes, to yet another factory where the cheese is cut into smaller pieces and put into plastic bags. But then we don't pick up cheese from the factory so where does it go next?"

"It has to be trucked to a store."

"Well, usually it goes to a distribution plant first and then to a store, but yes. And there it is purchases but our cooks, driven all the way out here to the science center, cooked, and served to you.”

I take a deep breath and let some of this information sink in before I continue, “So if you waste the cheese on that sandwich, you are not just wasting cheese, but all of the time, energy, and resources that went into making the cheese and bring it to you!"

Jaws drop, these children have never pondered where their food comes from in such detail. Seeing their shock faces I know they will never think of food the same way again!

Last Turtle of the Season, Murdered

In October I discovered a box turtle and showed it to my curious son. He pondered the creature and then kissed it. This time of year most box turtles have buried themselves in soft soil and begun to hibernate for the winter. But a few are still searching for a spot to rest. And one of the last turtles of the season was seen making his way laboriously across the road. The box turtle is protected by its hard shell, because unlike many turtles, it can enclose itself completely with its hinged plastron, and the shell protects it well against most predators. However, a turtle is no match for a motorized vehicle. That is why John and I are guilty of making many a U-turn or abrupt stop in the middle of the road for a turtle. We are those crazy people who run between the traffic to save a slow trucking turtle from the oncoming traffic. I hope you are too!
Yesterday, while driving, John saw a crazed man running down the shoulder of the road. John glanced at the man who was pointing to something up ahead. John's eyes traced the man's projection to a turtle in the middle of the road. John swerved to miss the turtle and then turned around. When he approached the turtle again, hoping to stop and assist it across the road, he witnessed a street sweeper swerve out of its way to crush the turtle. John returned only to find a dead turtle on the yellow line. Both John and the man standing on the shoulder, breathlessly froze in disbelief. The truck had the option to miss the turtle or kill it. The old turtle had been so close to a safe hibernation, another winter past, another year, but that driver chose to kill it.
Year after year, I find less and less turtles in the woods. As their habitats diminishes and they are slaughtered on the roads, the turtle population declines. If we want our children's children to witness the timid nature of a turtle poking its head from its shell, we have to be more careful. So please, take care!

Holiday Habits or Ancient Instincts

In the past two weeks I've seen a millipede, two black windows, and ribbon snake. These animals will be harder to find in the coming months, but they were recently out and about, getting ready for winter. It is amazing how the forest ecosystem shuts down so efficiently. Humans are one of the only mammals who refuse to hibernate in some way. We force our lives to keep moving as if nothing is amiss with time changes, bright lights, and ample heat. In ancient times, life must have slowed in the winter season. It must have looked like Thanksgiving evening most of the time. People ate, slept, and stuck together.

As the season grows colder and the days become shorter, we feel the urge to retreat, eat, and reconnect. The winter holidays are full of food and gift giving. This instinct must trace far back to our ancestral roots of being hunters and gathers. Though our commercialized society has dazzled the winter holidays with obligatory spending, the root ideas of food, family, and relaxation (after the initial frenzy) are ancient. In the winter, tribal ancestors would need to basically hibernate. They would have eaten their stored food and put on necessary weight to keep warm. Family would have been important in any season, but perhaps most necessary in those winter months in which going outside was impossible. The lack of activities and daylight hours would have naturally resulted in rest and sleep.

Even the shopping frenzy may have some roots in ancient thought. Perhaps the shopping resembles an activity which would have taken place earlier in the season, gathering food for winter. In ancient times there would have been a rush and frenzy of gathering, hunting, and preparing for the cold. Our instinct to gather provisions for winter is no longer necessary, but we satisfy the urge by shopping. The task and purpose has changed, but it is rooted in instinct.

I am thankful for the family I spent the holiday with and the feast we collectively created. Yesterday filled me with joy! Today, with my fat gut, lazy disposition, and thoughts of shopping on my mind, I am tinged with guilt. However, breaking down the possible reasons for this holiday habits, makes me think it may be more like ancient instincts than I had initially believed.

Ozark Natural Science Center Blog

The Ozark Natural Science Center's blog is going through a beautiful transformation. Staff members from the science center are writing articles, giving the blog a new face.
 As a staff member, I wrote an article called "Green Your Heart" for the center's blog.
It is posted on the ONSC website at: http://onsc.us/2011/11/green-your-heart/
Also check out my fellow co-worker Caleb's post about the harvest at:
http://onsc.us/2011/10/happy-harvest/
Look for more from the staff at ONSC regularly on the center's website. http://onsc.us/

Joy is...

in the leaves!

Wordless Wednesdays Begin



Hickory Leaves

Food and Water

   The garden at Owl's Knob, which has been neglected, is still producing kale. The leafy vegetable doesn't mind a light freeze and can almost grow year round. Though it's leaves will become skeletal in summer as Japanese beetles feast on them, they regain their composure in fall and leaf out again. It is an easy crop to grow in sun or partial shade and it doesn't mind a drought or heavy rain. I would say that kale is the ultimate apocalypse vegetable!
    But how do you eat it? Though I like snacking on its leaves raw or adding baby leaves to a salad, not everyone likes the strong flavor. Kale is great steamed along with other sweeter vegetables like squash or carrot. But my favorite way to cook kale is to saute it with soy sauce and oil or butter. This can be done in a stir-fry or by itself. Either way, it is important to not burn the kale leaves. To prevent burning you can add a splash of water, wine, or soy sauce. Keep the vegetables steaming more then frying.


The well at Owl's Knob, in which the water is 100 feet underground, is not functioning. Either the 12 volt pump is clogged, or the water table dropped. But the system is not working. However, the spring in the holler is still flowing. All throughout my life I have been drinking from this spring. At ONSC I ask children if water coming straight out of the ground, spring water, is clean. They always say no. When I tell them that the typical backpacking water filter uses clay to filter river-water, they are puzzled. But only then do they accept that the water, filtered by the clay in the ground, might be clean.
    Deep in a gully there is a mossy spring, shaded by maiden-hair ferns and old magnolia trees. The water comes trickling out of the bedrock, flowing over a slab of limestone and dropping into a sink hole that leads to Terrapin Creek, a tributary to the headwaters of the Buffalo river.
    To retrieve water from the trickle that hugs the bedrock, you must take a leaf and a rock. The leaf is placed in the stream of water with its steam hanging just over the bedrock's ledge. Then the rock is placed on top of the leaf to keep it in place. Thus, a spout is created, and the trickle of water, seeping over the stones, is launched into my jug.
Patiently, I wait for the gallon to fill.
It is like waiting for kale to grow.
Slowly but surely, nature provides.

More Adventures with Arthropods

Dirt Dauber carried a paralyzed wolf spider

Morning Glories

 This weekend, while spending time at Owl's Knob I spotting a dirt dauber carrying a paralyzed spider. I wrote recently about how dirt daubers sting spiders, paralyzing them, then store them inside their nest along with an egg. I snapped a picture of this rare instance before the dirt dauber became startled and flew off, leaving the paralyzed spider on a leaf. I touched it to find that's it's legs were soft, not rigid like they are when the creature is dead. The spider's legs were bound up close to it's body, but after touching it, the spider twitched. It was an interesting find.

Walking stick on a
Red Oak Leaf

I tried to show my son how fascinating the paralyzed spider was, but he didn't see anything special about it. Later on however we came across a praying mantis which he was very curious about. We also found a huge walking stick in a red leaf. I also found it to be a bit strange that the morning glories outside my green house were blooming.
It is interesting that it seems like more life is around me all the time. But I don't think that there is any more to see this past year than there ever has been before. I believe it is my perspective that has changed. Now that I write about nature on this blog and work at the Ozark Natural Science Center, I notice more all the time. Just imagine what you could see if you made an effort to notice more too.

Changes: Both Outside and Inside

Ripe Persimmon among Changing Leaves

     Leaves all over the rolling hills are changing color. Persimmons are orange like the carved pumpkins on porches. Caterpillars are fat and falling out of the trees. Eagles are returning and hummingbirds are departing. The harvest has passed and the market is full of a kaleidoscope of delicious foods.
     The other morning frost tinged the world for the first time this season. To many Americans the colder weather makes their houses become warmer and their heating bills higher. But for anyone heating their home with wood alone, the cold weather presents a new struggle.
     Firewood must be cut, hauled, and split. Kindling must be kept dry and plentiful. Each morning you wake to frosty clouds rising as you exhale. As you stumble to the fireplace in your pajamas, you hope that coals are still smoldering under the ashes. If there are no coals the fire must be started from scratch. It becomes a science and a ritual.
     This year, staying in a modern house, I have a gas wall furnace. It requires no splitting, starting, or stoking. The thermostat is set and regardless of what the weather does we stay effortlessly comfortable. Removed from but not unaware of the environmental impact of drilling for the fossil fuel we are burning.
     I miss the flames. I miss the intensity. I even miss feeling the winter's crisp grasp.
 

Ringed Salamander (Ambystoma annulatum)

Taken by George Imrie on his farm south of Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
George has been laboring to provide a safe haven for these creatures.

The ringed salamander (Ambystoma annulatum) is secretive and endemic to the Ozarks. Once upon a time these salamanders were seen by the hundreds each autumn, but now you are lucky to see just one in your lifetime. These endangered amphibians live under log, rocks, and in the ground. Their main defense is to hide themselves away. They have soft black bodies striped with yellow so camouflage fails them. Their tiny legs make it look laborious to walk and they are fairly defenseless especially when as an egg or tadpole. Therefore, they live hidden, eating grubs and worms all year.

Once a year they emerge from hiding to mate and lay eggs in the clean fishless pond they were born in but finding clean water without fish is becoming harder and harder. The mating event always takes place on the first cool rainy night in autumn. This year we had a cool rainy night in late September, but then again this past week we had another similar night. The ringed salamander took advantage of both nights and matted twice this year. Both times, I was lucky enough to see one at the Ozark Natural Science Center where I work as a teacher/naturalist.

This first time I saw a ringed salamander it was trucking across the trail at theOzark Natural Science Center, ONSC, after the students had all been sent to bed in the lodges. Only the teacher naturalists remained awake and we were making our way to bed when we found a salamander out in the open on a trail near the pond. We watched it walk on stubby legs, its long fat tail slithering like a snake’s behind it. I felt privileged to witness its annual journey by night but disappointed that I didn’t have my camera.

The second time was during the day, after the rain we had this past week, when I had a group of students from Bentonville’s Baker Middle School. My group crowded around a log where we had found a ringed salamander hiding. It tried to dig itself to safety at first but eventually gave up and crawled along the ground close to the log. My students, a group of ten 5^th graders, were mesmerized. They sat silently watching it with awe and respect. I knew that this was the first time any of them had seen a salamander. Many of them didn’t even know what it was until I told them.

While they watched the salamander, I read and discussed all I knew about the species. I told the children that they only come out once a year, so this is a specially occasion. They lay from 300-500 eggs but 99 percent of those eggs will never mature into adults, many will be eaten as caviar, others as salamander tadpoles, and many more as young adults. The ones that survive will not be able to reproduce until five to eight years of age, which is a long time for such a venerable creature. Also by breathing through their skin any type of pollution in the water or soil will kill them. Their mere existence is a bio indicator of a pollution free environment. As they got to know this fantastic creature, I encouraged them to name it. They couldn't choose between Sally or Steve until I informed them that because it was smaller in size it was most likely a male but it would be hard to be sure. He became Steve the Salamander and with that he was no longer a forigen wild animal but a friend.

The experience changed their perspective immediatly. For the rest of our time together, two days and one night, they were respectful and in awe of everything we found. They named every caterpillar, spider, and millipede we found, befriending all species. An old man once told me, "You can't force children to grow up and protect nature, you have to teach them to love it, then they will WANT to protect it!" I think that Steve the Salamander may have taught these kids such love.